Holiday Break

This past week was unusual to say the least.  Besides the fact that we had a snow day, a delayed start, and a noon dismissal, we also spent part of three days completing the Track My Progress test.  Unfortunately, that means there was not a lot of continuity to our learning this past week.  Hopefully we will be able to get into more of a rhythm this week before heading into the holiday break.

Two things to remember for this week:
One - Mrs. McClure sent home a notice in the Friday Folder about some materials that are needed in order for the students to make salt dough maps of Vermont.  Please read over the notice carefully, and send in the needed materials, if at all possible.

Two - Students who are members of the band or chorus have their winter concert this Thursday (December 18th) at 6:15pm.

This will be my last blog in 2014, so I will take this opportunity to wish you happy holidays and a great start to the new year!

December Happenings

Included in last Friday's folder was a free youth pass to the Vermont Historical Society in Montpelier and a free youth ticket to a Dartmouth women's basketball game.  These passes were given out at our last two field trips, in hopes that the students might return with their families.

The December book order, which is due this coming Thursday, was also included in the folder.  If you are considering ordering books, please keep in mind that a coupon was included for a free book when you spend at least $10 and Scholastic is guaranteeing delivery by December 19th.  As always, you can place your order online by using the classroom code LBMD8.

I am hoping to show the movie "Chronicles of Narnia" on the Friday before the holiday break, so we can compare it to the book The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which I have been reading aloud to the class.  If you have a copy of the movie that I could borrow, please let me know.  Also, the movie is rated PG, so please contact me if you have concerns about your child watching it in class.

Finally, remember that this Thursday is a noon dismissal for students.  Send in a note if your child will have a change to their normal dismissal routine.  Thanks!

From One Field Trip to Another

The week before Thanksgiving, the fourth graders had an excellent trip to the State House in Montpelier.  This coming Thursday (December 4th) we have another field trip planned, this time with the entire 3-5 pod.  We will be heading to Dartmouth College for a half-day field trip.  After being guided through a short walking tour of the campus, we will listen to motivational speakers on topics such as physical fitness and healthy eating habits.  The afternoon will end with a chance to watch the Dartmouth women's basketball team take on Hartford at noon.  We will return to the school in time for dismissal.  Please remember to send your child with a bag lunch, including a beverage, on Thursday!

Dates to Know

The students created a card and planned a baby shower for Ms. V.

There is a lot going on in the next week and a half.  Please keep the following dates in mind.

Tuesday, November 18th - noon dismissal for students
Thursday, November 20th - field trip to State House and Historical Society in Montpelier
Friday, November 21st - no school
Tuesday, November 25th - Ms. Gibson's last day with our class





Our latest Four Winds lesson focused on the ways in which animals use camouflage.

Standards Based Grading

The first trimester is quickly coming to an end!  The sign-up sheet for parent-teacher conferences is included in this week's folder, so please indicate your top three choices (keep in mind, there is a back side to the paper).  At the conference, we will discuss your child's progress in all academic areas and review the first report card.  The report card this year will look different than those sent home last year, yet it will still be standards-based.  Dr. Baker recently sent out an email explaining standards-based reporting, and there is a notice in the folder to explain about the benefits of standards-based grading.  However, any questions that you still have can be addressed at the conference.

There is also a November book order in the Friday folder, so please consider ordering some books.  The orders are due next Thursday.

If you have any old hand towels that you no longer need, please consider sending them in to our class.  When cut into strips, they work well for erasing personal whiteboards.  Thanks!

Chaperones Needed!

Pajama Day!

The fourth grade classes will be heading to Montpelier on Thursday, November 20th, to visit the State House and the Vermont Historical Society.  We would welcome a few parents who would be willing to chaperone the trip.  If you are interested, please let me know.

Also, be on the lookout in this Friday's folder for a parent-teacher conference sign-up sheet.  Due to the large number of students in the fourth grade this year, conferences will be held with only the homeroom teacher, unless you specifically request to have both teachers present.






Thank you to our wonderful (and very creative) room parents for providing some fabulous treats this past Friday!

Curriculum Update

Here is a quick overview of what we have been covering in math, reading, and writing so far this year and where we are headed next.

Math - We just finished a unit on place value where students demonstrated an ability to read, write, compare, and round numbers through the hundred millions place.  We also practiced adding and subtracting using the traditional algorithm.  Next, we will be reviewing perimeter and area and practicing our multiplication skills.  Throughout the year, an emphasis will be placed on deepening our sense of numbers (by finding different ways to manipulate numbers and through mental math activities) and explaining our thinking both orally and in writing.  Anytime a student struggles with a particular concept, we will continue to practice and reteach that concept even as we move on to new topics.  The goal is that by the end of the year all students will master all concepts.

Writing - The year began with a focus on using our speaking, listening, and writing skills to conduct interviews and write pieces based upon the information learned.  In addition, we also discussed the ways in which authors come up with ideas for stories.  This led into our narrative unit, which we are just finishing up.  For the first trimester, we focused most of our time on the structure of a well-written narrative.  We will be revisiting narratives later in the year to spice up our stories by adding dialogue and description, as well as interesting beginnings and endings.   For now we are moving on to opinion writing, where again, we will focus on the structure and purpose of this type of writing.

Reading - Our emphasis for the first trimester has been on picking details out of texts in order to answer questions and make inferences.  In fiction stories we have specifically used text details to support our thoughts about the setting and characters.  In nonfiction texts, we will continue to pull details from the text while also identifying the text structure and the main idea.  We have been participating in reading groups for several weeks now, which allows each student to read texts at their reading level and also receive differentiated instruction in phonics, syllabication, and word study.

Please feel free to contact me anytime if you have questions about what your child is learning in class.  Thank you for all of your help and support at home!

Four Winds

A special thank you to Claire Wendling and Cindy Hale for volunteering to lead the Four Winds lessons for our class this year.  For those of you who are not familiar with the program, Four Winds is a hands-on natural science program.  The theme of the lessons this year is Patterns in Nature.  I learned a lot of new things about conifers on Friday, so hopefully your child did as well!

Pumpkin Harvesting

The students did a super job picking vegetables on Thursday.  Many of the vegetables will be used as part of the school lunches.  The pumpkins were sold this past weekend to raise money for our class.  Thank you to those of you who volunteered your time to help out!

October book orders were sent home in the Friday Folder.  They are due back on Thursday, if you would like to order any books.

Internet Resources

I want to make you aware of a few different websites that we will be using in class this year, which you can also use at home with your child.  I sent a letter home last Friday about AdaptedMindMath, and I can see that some of the students have already been practicing their math skills at home.  IXL is another math program that is being used across the supervisory union.  Students can practice skills in many different areas of math.  Right now, it would be particularly helpful if students practiced number sense skills (letter A).  The easiest way to access the site is through http://www.wsesu.net/dashboard and I have included a letter with the login information.  If you are just looking for some fun, yet educational, math games for your child to play, OCSD Interactive Games (http://resources.oswego.org/games/) and ABCya (www.abcya.com) are two of my favorites.

Students can also access the reading program Lexia from home (http://www.lexialearning.com/).  This is a great program that practices reading and spelling sight words, syllabication, comprehension, phonics skills, and understanding prefixes, suffixes, and root words.  If your child is having trouble remembering their login information, please let me know.

Finally, just a note that Wednesday, October 8th is Health and Safety Day.  Students will be practicing bus evacuations and listening to a fire safety talk.  In addition, we will also be going on that day to help harvest some vegetables that the students planted last spring.  It should be an exciting day!

Thank You

Thank you to everyone who came to Back-To-School Night last night.  I could tell the students were proud to show off their classroom and the work they have been doing.  If you were unable to make it last night, a packet that includes an outline of the curriculum, as well as other important information about fourth grade, will be sent home in next week's folder.  

Thank you, also, to everyone who ordered books from the Scholastic Book Order.  I was pleasantly surprised by how many of you chose to purchase books.  I know that the order has been shipped, so we should receive the books next week.

Reminder - The school-wide fundraiser is due back on Monday.

Mr. D's advisory joined us for Morning Meeting on Wednesday!

Back to School Night

I realize that I have not been sending home much student work in the Friday Folders.  This is due in part to the fact that the first few weeks of school are spent establishing expectations and practicing routines.  Trust me, the time we spend now modeling and practicing the expected behaviors will allow us to spend much more of our time later in the year focused on learning.

The second reason that you are not seeing much student work coming home is that we do not spend much time on worksheets in class.  Our focus is more often on problem solving in groups, explaining our thinking, and participating in discussions.  We do write as part of this process, but it is often in their writing notebooks, math journals, and reading response books, all of which stay at school.  I encourage you to take a look at these resources when you visit the classroom during Back to School Night.

**Reminder - Back to School Night is Thursday, September 25th from 5:15-6:15 for the K-5 classrooms.  Mr. Moreno will be giving a short presentation from 5:00 to 5:15 in the gym, and there will be food out front for dinner.  Hope to see you there!

Fun at the Fair

We had a great time at the Tunbridge Fair yesterday!  Luckily, the rain held off so we were able to enjoy the day.








In today's folder you will find information about the salsa sale and a book order for the month of September.  You can order online at www.scholastic.com/bookclubs using the class activation code LBMD9.  Your child is also bringing home the school fundraiser.  Obviously, you are not required to participate in any of these, but they are all for good causes so please consider purchasing something.

Welcome to the website!

I am sending a newsletter in the Friday Folder today.  Next week, however, I will post the weekly update ONLY on this site, so please remember to check in!

We will be heading to the Tunbridge Fair on Thursday.  Thank you to those of you who volunteered to chaperone.  If anyone else is planning on joining us that day, please let me know.  Students will need to bring a bag lunch and wear comfortable walking shoes and clothes appropriate for the weather.  It is okay if students want to bring a little bit of money to buy one snack after lunch, but they will not need money for rides, games, or souvenirs, as those activities will not be part of our day.  (I encourage you to return to the fair later in the weekend and partake in those activities!)

I have included a letter in the folder about Rocket Math, which is a program we are using this year to help improve fluency with basic multiplication facts.  Please read over the letter so you are better able to support your child at home.  Also, be aware that students are expected to read for 15 minutes each night.  For now they are on their honor to do so, but soon they will be filling in a reading log and writing responses to what they are reading.  You will hear more about this soon.

It has been another great week!  Thanks for all of your support at home!

Great Start to the Year!

Dear Families,
We are off to a great start in fourth grade!  For the first couple of weeks we are mainly working on learning the expectations and routines, but we will soon be diving into the content.

There are a few details that I need to share with you.  First of all, this information is also posted (along with some weblinks and the specials schedule) on our class webpage.  The address is http://mrsdriscollsclasswebpage.blogspot.com/  There is even a place to sign up for notifications every time I post something new, though I will be trying to update the site regularly on Fridays.  After the first couple of weeks I will no longer send a paper copy of the newsletter home, so you will need to visit the website to read the information.  If you are unable to access the Internet, or would prefer a paper copy, please send me a note.

Also, beginning next week the students will be using the laptop computers, and it would be helpful if they each had a set of earbuds.  I am requesting that you send a set of earbuds to school in a plastic sandwich bag marked with your child's name, as soon as you are able.  Thank you for your help with this.

It would also be a good idea for your child to have a water bottle that he/she uses at school.  We do not have a sink in our classroom, so unless they have a water bottle, the students need to leave the room each time they want a drink.  Again, I appreciate your support with this.

Finally, we have our first field trip scheduled for Thursday, September 11th.  We will be heading to the Tunbridge Fair around 8:30am and returning in time for dismissal at the end of the day.  We need lots of chaperones for this trip, so please let me know if you would be willing to volunteer.  We will also be wearing matching tie-dyed t-shirts that day.  Many of the students may still have the shirts they made last year, but if your child does not have a shirt, or wants to make another, please send a plain white shirt to school.  I am not sure yet when we are doing the tie-dying, but the sooner you can send in the shirt, the better.  I will write your child's name on the tag and store it here at school until we are ready to decorate them.

If you have not had a chance to return the band forms, and your child would like to participate, Ms. B. said she would extend the deadline to Tuesday.  As for the other forms, thank you everyone for returning them so quickly.  This is the first year that I have had every form back by Friday of the first week!